My Favorite Restaurant
My wife and I like to eat breakfast at a little restaurant called “Our Place” that’s not too far from our home. The food is good, the coffee is hot and the help is friendly.
If you’ll read this entire post, I promise you that it will all make sense…
Amazingly, “Our Place” is located in the exact same building where two other restaurants had failed miserably before.
The first failed restaurant was a burger joint. The first time we tried it, it took them an hour to get our hamburgers out. The owner passed out free meal coupons to everybody waiting.
When we went back the second time (to use our free meal coupons), the food was so tainted by our 1st bad experience that we just never felt like going back again.
The second failed restaurant was an Italian place. Every time I drove by, the parking lot was empty. Who wants to eat at an empty Italian restaurant? We never went.
When “Our Place” opened up, I was extremely cynical. I remember thinking, “How are they going to make it in the same place where 2 other restaurants closed down? That’s a bad location. Don’t they know the rule about location, location, location?”
We didn’t go for the longest time.
Maybe it was because the other two restaurants had fooled me and it was just a matter of principle. Whatever the reason, “Our Place” never entered the “where do you want to eat?” conversation for a long time.
It was so long that I finally started to notice that they’d been open for much longer than the other two restaurants were able to make it. It seemed like the parking lot was always full when I drove by.
One day I slowed down long enough to read the sign on the marquee out front that read, “Voted Best Chicken Fried Steak”.
What Does This Have To Do With Selling Roofs?
So far, not much, but I’m about to bring it back around to roofing sales if you’ll hang on for one more second…
You probably work for an excellent roofing company (at least, I hope you do). You know your company is good, the people who work in the office know your company is good, the guys tearing off the shingles like your company, too.
Here’s your problem: Nobody else on the planet cares!
You might have a really nice truck wrapped in advertising, professional brochures, cool business cards and a Facebook page… Nobody Cares!
You Talking About You
Why? Because up until this point, all of that stuff is just you talking about you.
Nobody cares because they expect you to do all of the talking already. “Licensed, Insured, and Local” are the price of admission. It gets you in the game, but that’s all. You’ve spent the money, but that doesn’t give you any customers. It just gives you permission to go earn them.
Just like the restaurant, you can spend a lot of money on presentation, but never build a business if you don’t get other people talking about you and involved in what you’re doing. Then, it’s not just you talking about you; now it’s other people talking about you, too. That’s always going to be more credible.
People vote with their dollars.
When I started to notice that restaurant parking lot was full almost every time I drove by, it got my attention. Empty restaurants aren’t any good, but full restaurants have got to be good, don’t they?
Fill Up The Parking Lot
Full parking lots and roofing yard signs have a lot in common.
They are both seen as a vote of confidence. It is somebody else telling folks how good you are rather than you just talking about how good you are.
Would you rather knock on a door in a neighborhood full of your roofing yard signs or in a neighborhood full of your competition’s yard signs?
Here’s another way to look at it? Would your prospect rather go with your roofing company or the roofing company that has all the yard signs in their neighborhood… including the sign in their best friend’s yard across the street?
Tell Them What They Told You
Remember, nobody cares what you say about yourself, but they will listen to what other people have to say about you.
If you’ve been voted “Best Chicken Fried Steak”, then put it on a big sign out in front of your restaurant. Likewise, if you have a collection of testimonials from satisfied customers, show them to your prospects.
When you get to be really good at selling roofs, you’ll use the words other people have said about you to convince your prospects to choose your roofing company instead.
I told you it would be worth your time if you read the entire post.
That was good, wasn’t it?
Peace,
Mike
BTW: My wife and I really do enjoy Our Place. When my private clients come to town for coaching, we often start the day with breakfast at the restaurant. I hope you’ll visit my favorite restaurant when you’re in town. Tell them you heard good things from Mike on the Roofing Salesman website.
Mike Coday
Mike started selling roofs in '95 while working as a youth pastor at a small church in North Texas. A decade later he transitioned to speaking at industry conferences and training outside sales teams. Today, he works exclusively as the premier consultant to roofing company owners who are driven for growth.
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